Author: Margaret Hunt

Born in Oceanside, California, Margaret studied fine arts at the University of Georgia and Augusta State University where she was a protege of Freeman Schoolcraft and studied under Jim Lyle, Eugenia Comer and Dave Jones. In addition she has studied with Ken Umbach at John Campbell Folkschool and locally with Jim Ginsheer and Thomas Needham.
An award winning artist, her work is represented in collections throughout Europe and the United States. Galleries and museums across the United States have represented and shown her work.
Her creations have received numerous awards including multiple Best of Shows, have been exhibited locally, nationally and internationally and are part of art collections across the world most notably including the Quilts, Inc. collection and the Thomas Quilt Collection.
Her art has been published in numerous art magazines and has also been included in several books such as Creative Quilting: A Page from My Journal. Highlights are her art quilts were selected Favorites at International Quilt Show, Houston. Art critics have compared her art to Thomas Gainsborough paintings.
Margaret creates art of one kind or another almost every day at her studio on the Savannah River and teaches at various venues across the country.

Yes a Bight. That is not a typo. A Bight pronounced bite is a small area of water similar to a small bay. A curve or recess in a coastline, river, or other geographical feature. I think this is the beautiful yacht with grey sails we saw during our Sunset cruise. The sketchbook fold does not help the boats lines does it?!

I also drew the Jolly Roger across the Bight from where I sat. Oops. Left the bow sprit off. Going to add a fold out with it because it looks odd without it.

The Jolly Roger has beautiful red sails. Also a cannon like any good pirate ship would have to shoot other boats with so they can rob them. It was actually just aloud noise.

Hoping for handouts

The Bight is where a lot of the locals dock, the party catamarans and activity catamarans dock. It’s surrounded with a large variety of bars and restaurants B. O.’s and Pepe’s Cafe are both on the Bight but not on the water .

Shark??!

Huge 3-4′ tarpons and a nurse shark lurking for leftovers in that water.

There’s no telling who you will see walk by. A party of about 30 Asians following their group leader who had a flag a fisherman cleaning his catch loud party goers heading for their sunset cruise.

The most interesting animal we saw was an endangered HUGE Atlantic Giant grouper perhaps six feet long under one of the boats where the crew was cleaning fish.

Atlantic Giant Grouper

They can weight up to 700 pounds!! If you look carefully in the water in these pictures you will see a HUGE grouper. He was at least six feet long lurking for fish parts as the crew cleaned them and tossed them overboard. Eeekk.

Right in the middle of town on Whitehead. One of the only lighthouses in a town. Raised to its present height in 1895 I think. I have postcards with details somewhere probably in my suitcase.

Before I added more ink after painting.

I experimented adding more ink to the trees after I painted it. The rooster was in the grounds just not in front of the light house like I drew him. Artistic license. Right. The first lighthouse in Key West was built in 1825 along the shoreline at Whitehead Spit. Lieutenant (later Commodore) Matthew C. Perry recommended its construction to warn ships off of the treacherous shoals surrounding the island. It was a whitewashed brick tower, 47’ high from its foundation to the base of its black iron lantern.Fromhttp://www.kwahs.org/museums/lighthouse-keepers-quarters/first-lighthouse-keepers

One of my favorite Kew West activities is to follow the chickens around and draw them. As you probably know they abound in Key West.

I once saw a hen and her chicks use the cross walk on Whitehead to cross the road. Truly I did. They are under the tables and chairs in a lot of restaurants like Blue Heaven and B.O.s fish wagon chomping down on scraps. Subsisting off bugs when there are no handouts.

What I drew today.

Pepe’s where we are lunch and we had the best key lime pie and best coconut pie I have ever eaten.

The recipe for the best coconut pie. Sooo good. YUM YUM!!!

We walked along Key West Bight after and I drew some more. This is the Jolly Roger that fires on us during our sunset cruise. I ran out of room for the bow sprit. Hmmm. Maybe a fold out for it?!!

The spirit of America. Managed to get it all on the page.

And our last dinner at Hog Fish Grill which must be our fav since we ate there three times.

Only two blocks long Terry Lane is loaded with really cute little houses. The Urban Sketchers of Key West have been meeting every Wednesday for years. The call goes out on FB.

Gorgeous greenery. You just have to ignore the trash cans. Lol. Chickens ran by as we painted and our new bff Casserole hope for rub or two. She rolled one way and then another hoping for attention. After all it was her front step I was sitting on.

Done or is ink needed.

14×18” cp fluid paper

Did the next two houses too. A chicken obligingly ran by again as I drew this one.

Then we went around the corner to eat at Blue Heaven in Petronia. We LOVE Blue Heaven. Fabulous food in a funky setting. Buckets of ice tea and killer BLT eggs Benedict. (Bacon, Lobster, Tomato) topped off with a Key Lime pie we shared.

A meringue mountain.

Well I still have to paint it.

So hot. 90 plus and steamy. Feels like 96. Drip drip. But that didn’t stop Tam and I from stopping at a cute new gallery on Petronia on the way back to the car. I mean they had urban sketches selling for hefty prices.

at the Hyatt Tiki Bar in a Key West. Tough life doing exactly what you want all day in paradise. My portable painter palette filled w Holbein m Graham and Daniel smith paint. . Fluid cp 140# a caran D’ache watercolor brush. Wonder where the other one is.

Still needs the sky. I like painting with the water brush but not the sky. Way too demanding for it. Or maybe for me using it. Going to use my kolinsky da Vinci #10 sable for it. I also think it could use a few more darks but the sun kept catching me so now I am chilling on the condo porch.

More darks required!

Did some editing of the tiki bar when people arrived on the left side of the bar. I didn’t ask them to move. Lol. I just walked around to the left and drew them there. Only one tiki god. There are two! Changed the chair color too. Artistic license.